Anthony Ureña

Dr. Anthony Ureña is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University - Newark. He previously served as a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University. Anthony earned his PhD in Sociology from Columbia University, where he was a Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellow. He holds a B.A. in both Sociology and Human Biology from Brown University. Anthony is a Brooklyn native and was raised by his parents from the Dominican Republic.

Anthony’s substantive areas of research interest encompass the intersections of race & ethnicity, gender & sexuality, and risk. He is particularly interested in health inequality and perceptions of illness. Anthony specializes in qualitative research methods, with particular expertise on semi-structured interviews, participant-observation and ethnography, as well as survey administration and analysis. 

Anthony's research has been generously supported by fellowships, scholarships, and grants from prestigious institutions like The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Social Science Research Council, The Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation).

As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Anthony volunteered at several HIV/AIDS NGOs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to produce a comparative ethnography detailing the persistence of the epidemic in the city’s metropolitan and slum neighborhoods. Anthony has continuously complemented his scholarship with a deep commitment to teaching in the social sciences, as well as mentorship through his service to the Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program, GSAS-Leadership Alliance Summer Research Program, SSRC-Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, and the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers.

Publications:

• Relational Risk - American Sociological Review - 2022

Media Appearances/Speaking Engagements:

• PAX East, March 2024; PAX West, September 2024 - Panel analyzing what videogames teach about relationships and relational dynamics

• Rutgers University - Newark, 2023 - “The Pandemic and the City” Sawyer Seminar (postponed)

• Princeton University, 2021 - Invited talk on current research about HIV risk mitigation among queer men of color

Previous Organizations: 

• SSRC - Mellon Mays

• The Institute for Citizens & Scholars

• Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Accomplishments:

• ISGRJ Early Career Faculty Fellows

• Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation MMUF Dissertation Grant

Upcoming Projects:

• Article on risk perception and respectability politics among queer men of color

• Book project on politics of PrEP uptake among queer men of color

• Larger project on palliative effects of videogame-based social communities on mental health outcomes for racial and sexual minorities

My work firmly examines how social inequities lead to racial disparities in the experiences of health and illness. From infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS to mental health conditions like depression and suicidality, my work highlights how existing social structures both facilitate detriments to wellbeing as well as offer avenues for amelioration.